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Peter Huntoon Collection, 1873-2010-2015

NAU.MS.456
NAU.PH.2011.45
NAU.MAP.1298

Biographical Note

Dr. Peter Huntoon first became interested in the Grand Canyon as a high school student when he participated in a summer program through the University of Arizona during which he accompanied cave explorers, led by George Beck, in exploring Thunder Cave in Tapeats Amphitheater. He continued to work with Beck for several subsequent years, exploring Tapeats Cave and Dutton Spring in Deer Creek. As a graduate student at the University of Arizona, Huntoon was awarded a small research grant by the Museum of Northern Arizona to help facilitate the research for his thesis project, a look at the localization of springs in the Grand Canyon. It was during this project that he was introduced to George Billingsley by Museum of Northern Arizona Curator of Geology, William Breed, to serve as a field assistant in his hydrogeologic field work.

Huntoon completed his master’s thesis on karst springs in the Tapeats-Deer area of the Canyon in 1968 and expanded this idea for his Ph. D dissertation on karst springs draining to the Grand Canyon from the Kaibab Plateau in 1970. After graduating, he was approached by representatives from the National Park Service about the feasibility of producing a geologic map of the Eastern Grand Canyon. Huntoon, Billingsley and James Sears agreed to the job after receiving sufficient support from the Grand Canyon Natural History Association. The work was divided, with Huntoon working on the structural geology and Billingsley working on the Paleozoic and younger stratigraphy, a pattern they maintained for the duration of their partnership. The first edition of the map was published in 1976 and its successive editions became the largest selling geologic map.

Following the completion of that project, Huntoon and Billingsley were commissioned by the Grand Canyon National Park Service and Grand Canyon Natural History Association to map the Western Grand Canyon. They went on to publish three additional maps between 1982 and 1983. Following the completion of that project, the two men were requested by the management at Canyonlands National Park to complete a similar mapping project of Capitol Reef National Park. These projects were funded by Huntoon’s home institution, the University of Wyoming, and were completed in 1982 and 1987.

As a result of the remoteness of the areas to be explored for mapping, Huntoon and Billingsley conducted a sizable amount of field work, including hiking and river running. In areas difficult to access on foot, Huntoon and Billingsley depended on the use of stereo aerial photography, light planes and small helicopters to visually field check the geology. This allowed them to pinpoint problem areas to focus their field work on. Out of these mapping projects, Huntoon enjoyed several personal achievements. He began to research ground water themes, specifically on karst hydrology and karst processes in these areas which culminated in numerous publications, professional honors and teaching awards.

Scope and Content

The collection document Huntoon's professional activities and research involved in mapping several areas of the Colorado Plateau, including the Grand Canyon, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef. Record series include geological research files, a research library, aerial and non-aerial photographs, and draft and published maps.

The geological research files (dates) document Dr. Peter Huntoon's research and investigation of the following locations: Breccia Pipes, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Colorado National Monument, Glen Canyon, Grand Canyon, Hualapai, Kingman, Marble Canyon, Natural Bridges, Surprise Valley, and Williams. The majority of research files pertain to the following topics: ground water and natural springs, oil and natural gas deposits, earth cracks and earthquakes, topography, tectonics, and stratigraphy. Record types include correspondence, proposals and contracts, well logs and well driller reports, water surveys, field notes, technical reports, water rights, grazing district information, unpublished works, publications and news clippings, brochures, diagrams and graphs, presentations, maps, and photographs.

The research library includes geological transition announcement, published articles, list of attendees: Grand Canyon Symposium, geologic map index, Northern Colorado river extensional corridor-2000 conference, Red Lake Salt: Hualapai Basin-2000 Conference, Souther Grand Wash Trough-2000 Conference, Southern White Hills-2000 Conference.

The aerial photographs were used by Dr. Huntoon for his mapping projects. The photographs are arranged by flight lines for each specific geological area by Dr. Huntoon. Flight plans are included within Folders for each geographic location and depict organization and specification of the photographs and line orientations, usually arranged from East to West or North to South. Photographs contain flight and photograph number, flight date, and vendor/contractor abbreviations. Additional flight plans for the aerial photography is located within the map series of this collection.

The aerial photographs are organized by locale. The following list of abbreviations were created by special collections and delineate the specific geological areas captured in the aerial photographs.

Series consists of maps authored or co-authored by Peter Huntoon related to the geology of the Grand Canyon, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef; maps used by Huntoon to supplement his research on the geology of regions within the Colorado Plateau; and maps indexing the flight plans used by Huntoon to access and use the aerial photographs within his collection. The bulk of maps in this collection were not created by Dr. Huntoon, but used by him to supplement his research on the geology of several areas within the Colorado Plateau. Most of these maps have been annotated and/or altered with his notes.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on use.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for Northern Arizona University, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright. .

Related Material

George Billingsley Collection. NAU.MSS.330.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Peter Huntoon Collection, NAU.MS.456, NAU.PH.2011.45, NAU.MAP.1298 Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives Dept., Northern Arizona University. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Acquisition Information

Material was donated by Peter Huntoon, .

Processing Information

Processed in January and February of 2012.

Container List